J:Enesis
by Zarius
Summary: The origins of Shendu and Drago explored. All Jade wanted to do was break all of this to Jackie gently...
1. Chapter 1

**JACKIE CHAN ADVENTURES:**

**J:ENESIS**

**Written by Zarius**

**Disclaimer:** **Jackie Chan Adventures is trademarked by Sony. This fic is for non-profit purposes**

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**Note:** it's been almost a decade since JCA ended, and while all my old JCA fanfics are no longer available on this site, I figure I'd redress that with a brand new one based off some of my older ideas, but spun into a completely fresh story. Hope you all enjoy the ride.

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** CHAPTER ONE:**

Jackie looked at the clock as he swept the floors of _Uncle's Rare Finds_

Four minutes to four.

He looked at the door.

He then checked the digital watch attached to his wrist

Calmly, he counted the seconds along with the timer.

"..Two…One"

The door burst open, a familiar pint-sized leg having kicked through it.

Storming in was an exhausted Jade Chan, trailing her loaded and heavy Super Moose school bag behind her.

"Slow day?" asked Jackie

"The _slowest_" said Jade. "We're supposed to be putting together a junior news bulletin for the local community stations, and I have to learn how to time out a report, you know what that means?"

"You actually pay attention to the words 'time out'?" Jackie asked

Jade put down her school bag and took out a pen, a note pad, and a home video camera

"I have to constantly watch generic footage of a snowed-in town, trying to convey to a practice audience that there's been delays on the rail network…which is something I came up with myself, figured it'd add a bit of spice to it, but no, you know what happens? Footage of a train speeding by shows up on the screen while I'm saying this. The whole class was in a fit of hysterics."

Jackie smiled, for all the usual hijinks his niece would get into on his own adventures, goofing on a class project was refreshingly normal. He walked over to her and gently patted her on the head; Jade pouted and folded her arms in annoyance. She huffed.

"I could win a media prize if I covered one tenth of the butt-whooping we give Drago and those Ice bandits daily while we spend time chilling with whatever Chi we can get our mits on"

"Sometimes Jade, the best news to deliver is the ordinary things…to highlight the regularities of life"

"I know you'll always read the rule book cover to cover, but the front page exclusives and the breaking headlines are what widen eyes, and if I have to give this course a crash, I'm going to have to deliver BIG. I just wish I'd gotten this assignment back around my birthday"

Uncle soon made his presence felt in the shop, clutching a cell phone in his right hand tensely. Jackie detected this sense of apprehension.

"Uncle? What is the matter?" Jackie asked

"Our phony wrestler friend down in Mexico, El Toro, was on the phone…he sounded very distressed"

"El Toro with a migraine? Usually he gives others a need for aspirin" remarked Jade

"He requires you to fly out to an arena where he is preparing to perform"

"Has more Demon Chi manifested itself?" asked Jackie

"All he says is he holds in his hands answers to questions years in the making…about the very nature of our present enemy"

"Woah, some juice on Drago? This reporter's got to get rolling. Can I come with you Jackie? Please? Please? Please?" Jade insisted, tugging at the back of Jackie's trousers. Jackie sighed.

After yet another promise not to steer herself into a proverbial hornet's nest during the trip, Jackie agreed to let Jade accompany him to Mexico.

Section 13 came through for Jackie, arranging a swift and immediate flight to the city in which the wrestling event was being held. Jackie and Jade rendezvoused as soon as possible with El Toro and his young charge, Jade's good friend and occasional rival Paco, who was quick to greet her

"Greetings senorita Jade" Paco said, leaning in to give her a kiss on the cheek, Jade raised her right hand to him

"Save all your kisses for me, just don't ever try cash them in" she asserted. Paco looked at her with a somewhat puppy dog look of dejected disappointment. Jade smiled and elbowed Paco in the shoulder.

Paco elbowed her right back.

She giggled.

"They are learning" Jackie said as he sharply observed their playfulness.

"You will learn something today also my friend, here" said El Toro as he was handed a box by a fellow wrestler, he opened the box and presented its contents to Jackie

It was a small coconut-shaped shell with two talon like handles and a small mirror embedded in it's center. Jackie looked into it and saw not his reflection, but that of a young woman, flowing jet black hair, piercing eyes, her features, while significantly older, were unmistakeable to him.

"Jade?" he said.

"You called?" Jade said.

"When we were prepping the arena for much-needed maintenance ahead of tonight's big event, we found this embedded in the walls. When I touched it, it came loose and fell into my hands. It spoke many things to me, I tried to ask it many questions, but _she_ said her answers were meant only for one person…you senior"

"That can't be Jade…can it?" said Jackie

"It is best to hold the answers within your own hands" said El Toro, pressing the artefact deep into Jackie's grasp. Suddenly, the mirror glowed a bright yellow, and the reflection of the older Jade projected itself into Jackie's head

"If you're listening to this Uncle Jackie…it means whichever J-Team gigolo who found this has forwarded the Orchant mirror to you"

"How can you be here? Are you from the future? Are we dancing across time and space all over again?" said Jackie as he began to physically shudder, which worried the younger Jade and Paco watching close behind him.

"Just let the telepathic link sooth you into slumber, don't resist it, otherwise you may receive a bit of headache, and yeah, you're sharp, we're definitely doing the time-warp again"

As Jackie surrendered to the sensations around him, he found his thoughts becoming effortlessly louder than his voice.

"What is going on?"

"Believe me, I'm sort of trying to take it all in myself at the moment…ninth and tenth immortals, the incident at Dragon Valley, what I last had for breakfast that wasn't mangled worm and octopus tendrils, the birth of my son…."

"Oh Jade, you shouldn't eat food that might not agree with…DID YOU SAY YOUR SON?"

A surge shot through Jackie's nerves, which in turn unnerved Jade, Paco, and El Toro watching him.

"What did I tell you about the little shock theatre we got going on?" snapped a rather irritated future Jade, "Now, relax, and don't worry about the others eavesdropping. Only you can hear and see everything I'm about to show you…and I'm sorry"

"Sorry for what?" a weary Jackie replied as his physical body slipped further and further into unconsciousness

"You told me to break this to you _gently_. Kind of slipped on that"


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

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"Where are we?" said Jackie as he found himself hovering over a lush green hillside.

"Temporal projection, sort of an offshoot of the Sheep Talisman's astral energies" Jade replied

Jackie took in the surroundings, trying to center himself, but a loud buzzing made him turn. In front of him were a teeming mass of large black op helicopters. Jackie covered his face with his hands as the machines approached him, only to pass harmlessly through him

"C'mon Jackie, rules of Astral projection, nothing phases you when things can phase right through you" said a snarky Jade, "Now c'mon, you're going to miss all the awesome action, and this little time capsule does_ not_ have a replay option"

"Capsule? Replay? Are you some kind of recording?" asked Jackie

"Yup. Based off of my memories relevant to this point"

Jackie allowed curiosity to get the better of him and he peered inside one of the helicopter carriers, finding several men clad in heavy duty black ops gear, charging what looked like a large cannon pulsating with dark chi energy.

"Hawk 56 to S13 Central, we have visual confirmation on the target. Proceed with caution" uttered a man into a communication device that served as an earpiece attached to the right side of his lobes. He opened the door to the helicopter, out folded a seat, he sat down on it and turned around to face the open air as the helicopters approached a clearing in the center of the forest.

"What sort of weapons are those?" Jackie asked the projection of Jade

"Chi Triggers. The latest thing to deal with the next big thing. They're actually Dark Hand tech, we acquired them when the organization collapsed"

"Section 13 toying with things developed by the enemy? What sort of demon possessed you to do something like that? It…was a demon right? Because that…well…that happens. A lot. Just ask Valmont"

"No Demon Jackie...and I'm not leader of Section 13 in my current timeline remember? Donut shop. Dragon talisman. My boo-boo. Black's still in charge, and he made the call.

"What kind of crazy call requires dealing with dark chi?" asked a frantic Jackie

"Just follow the Black Hawks, they're about to go down"

Swiftly and suddenly, long and large energy bolts suddenly erupted from a clearing in the centre of the forest, smashing into the helicopters. Several of the men stationed in the helicopters seemed prepared for this and poured out of the machines using rocket powered boots. Activating their Chi-Triggers, they retaliated.

However, some of the energy ribbons slowly began picking off the troops, snaring them and charging them full of a thousand volts, shortening out their rocket boots, and sending them into free-fall

"Oh those poor men, they never stood a chance" said a dismayed Jackie

"Not to worry Jackie. There's a reason we continue to give Kepler an enviable pay cheque. He developed insulated armor with Uncle that can sustain and absorb dark chi magic and convert it into a healthy form of protein that is easily integrated into your physical make-up"

"And what about the crash landings?" Jackie said. Jade sighed at how much of a nit-picker he could be.

Jackie observed the troops as they pulled the rip cords on their back packs and parachutes emerged.

"The regular precautions. Not everything has to be a kind of magic" remarked Jade

Jackie made his way to the center of the forest clearing, where the source of the energy ribbons was coming from. In the clearing was a gaunt impish figure grasping a metallic, diamond-tipped staff with an array of buttons attached to the right and left sides of it. The ribbons were pouring out of the gaping mouth of a serpent attached to the tip of the cane. Jackie recognized the pale-skinned figure with ease

"DaoLong Wong" he said, "But I thought I left him powerless in the past"

"You also left him in the hands of Valmont's goons. It wasn't hard for DaoLong and Shendu to strike up a rapport with one another and arrange a deal. In all the time we were whooping Wong in our own times and places, there was always one version of him working behind the scenes, hidden away, using demon tech that Shendu had supplied him with to slowly prepare another gamble with time."

"Time travel is such a chore" uttered a deflated Jackie

"DaoLong…this stops now" cried out a familiar voice, a little older, a little fainter, but unmistakeably Jackie was quick to catch on that the defiant cries were his own.

Standing before Wong was a wizened, older Jackie Chan, poised with a Chi-Trigger.

"Chan…it has been a long time, and your accursed chi wizard is not at your side, what chance do you possibly have in thwarting me?"

"Uncle may be poorly…but he is rich in experience, experience he has shared with me" Jackie said, dashing towards DaoLong.

The Dark Chi Wizard seized laying waste to the Section 13 helicopters and sent a dangerous blast of energy at the ground beneath Chan. Pairs of giant electrically charged hands emerged from the grass and attempted to snare the man, but he was able to leap over, slide past, and side step every attempt they had at grabbing him and sending volts into his unprotected body.

The younger Jackie could not help but comment on this.

"Is trying to electrocute me a serious thing this day and possibly tomorrow?" he asked. Jade grinned.

"Don't worry, the only cool bit of all this is coming up"

With DaoLong distracted, the older, adult Jade Chan, here represented in the flesh rather than as a projection, came behind DaoLong and appropriated his cane. She flicked a couple of switches and used it to create a medium level shockwave that stunned DaoLong and knocked him off of his feet.

Jackie observed that Dao Long, had, in the center of the lush clearing, had built some vast cavern system using, various boulders slotting into place, levitated by a spiraling energy trail coming from the back of a pair of serpent canes embedded in the ground.

Jade walked over to Jackie

"Way to be spry Uncle Jackie"

"I am getting far too old for this" said Jackie, "At least we were able to deflate DaoLong"

"Fools" DaoLong said, "You _really_ think I am so easily phased by this?"

Jade handed Jackie the Chi-Trigger. Jackie aimed it at the serpent staffs.

"Your attempts at reverse engineering the Al-Kahf effect will sleep as soundly as the seven who dwelled in it Dao Long" said Jackie, pulling the trigger on the blaster.

Suddenly, the gun morphed into a pair of shackles that encased Jackie, he fell to the ground. DaoLong sneered and raced over to the cave.

"As I said, I am never easily phased. Do you really think I would develop the Chi-Trigger devices without first arranging them to have a fail-safe that would activate and serve my needs under the right amount of circumstances? You are right Chan, you are too old, and too slow, you and your guard no longer consider consequences. Now if you'll excuse me, I must endure a sleep of a thousand years, and to ensure the Age of Demons never truly ends"

He produced from his pouch a series of ten pendants, he placed one directly on his forehead.

His fidgeting with the pendant, however, gave Jade adequate time to take a flying leap through the air and drop kick the Dark Wizard in the face, sending him hurtling towards the cave he had developed, and scattering the pendants on the ground. DaoLong quickly gathered up as much as he could, neglecting one, and darted into the cave.

"Jade you must stop Dao Long Wong" Jackie cried as his chains continued to tighten.

"No way, those chains are choking the chickens out of you. I need to cast a chi spell, I'll get Uncle on the phone"

"Jade, do not argue, I will be fine, place one of those pendants DaoLong dropped on your forehead and follow him into the cave"

"But…but…" Jade said

"No buts, go and whoop HIS butt. Prevent the Age of Demons…just…do me one favour…"

Jade was close to tears, "What's that?"

"Break it to me gently" said Jackie.

The younger Jackie felt as if he had just learned something, and that he was slowly catching on. He looked at the projection of Jade as she watched herself enter the cave. There was something off about her.

"The expression you have on your face, you look so…so…haunted" observed Jackie.

"Not haunted. Heartbroken" said Jade.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

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As Jade entered the cave, she found it surprisingly tranquil, all accompanying the small dwelling were a faint hum and what sounded like the crashing of waves. As if the cave were nearest to the ocean, rather than smack dab in the midst of a forest.

She took a small torch from her pocket and used it to take a browse. There seemed to be apparent sight of DaoLong Wong.

But there was evidence of his presence.

A half-finished plate of raw fish lay on a small table, there was an unmade and filth-ridden bed spread, there was a worn out wax candle beside the bed. There was no mistaking it…signs of life here were apparent, but nobody was home.

"How does all of this work? He only entered the cave minutes ago, but it's as if he spent a lot longer in there than I thought" Jackie asked as he hovered over the perplexed future Jade…or was it now present Jade since he was talking to future Jade's projected self, who was trying to teach him about her recent past.

Time travel was _such_ a chore.

"Took me a while to figure it out myself, but It's kind of like the explanation given to the King Raivata Kakudmi, times runs through different planes of existence. Anyway, you taught me to be sharp about all this, and all that time traveling over the years was bound to rub off on me to the point I'd finger through all the books that dissected the myths behind the phenomenon. That's what attracted all of the parties involved to the Al-Kahf effect"

"I don't follow" admitted Jackie

"Oh you will, because you'll remember this conversation…a part of you will anyway" said Jade, "Anyway, the Al-Khaf effect was based on an old tale, a more subjective tale than other stories, about how a loving God protected seven individuals from persecution, when they went to sleep in the cave of Al-Khaf, they awoke 309 years later where all of their enemies long gone from this world and they were allowed a fresh chance to start anew. DaoLong decided to reconstruct the cave using thousands of years' worth of precision memory and use Shendu's resources to reverse engineer it's properties, as there was definitely something of the mystical about it. Instead of going hundreds of years forwards, his slumber took him hundreds of years backwards"

"Hundreds of years backwards? To _when_?" Jackie said in alarm, forgetting he had to remain composed and receiving stinging electrical shot as a result.

"Where else? To the Age of Demons…as I would find out when I joined him there" Jade replied.

Sure enough, once Jade had sorted out everything her future self had already told Jackie, she crept into the flaky looking bed, grossed out at the sheds of skin coating the spread, and settled down to sleep herself

All over Jackie, there seemed to be a rushing sensation coursing through even his temporal astral form, he could feel the pull of the mystical energies surrounding the cave at work. An unseen force swayed him from side to side.

"What's happening?"

"Temporal shifting, it's a bit of a doozy, even when you're dealing with a temporal archive like this one, you can get caught up in events in the literal sense"

The present Jade remained un-phased as she snuggled up and began counting dates her head to sooth herself into perfect slumber.

"Why are you counting dates? And why do some of them always synch up with each instance we've been to Mexico?" asked Jackie.

"All the times Paco invited me to participate in whatever El Toro was doing, the ones in the past, the ones in the present, the ones to come. I never forgot those dates, I think of them a lot"

"Cherished memories?" asked Jackie

"Regrets" admitted Jade, "I was so eager to play super agent that I missed out on all the regular things in life…like you said to me all those years ago Jackie, the best news is when you tell people the ordinary things in life have taken prominence"

"It appears you learned things a little too late"

"Make sure I don't wait too long next timeline right?" said Jade

Eventually, the winds died down, Jackie's projection was no longer rocking back and forth, and stabilized. A bright dawn filtered through the cavern, awakening Jade. She got up, walked out, and stretched out her arms, taking in a big yawn.

After gently rubbing her eyes, she looked out at her surroundings. No sign of helicopters, her uncle, or, more urgently, DaoLong Wong. The serpent canes surrounding the cave had also vanished.

As Jade took a step out of the cave, she heard a few faint sounds from nearby, she dashed through the vast growth of forest to pinpoint the source of the cries.

When she reached a nearby waterfall, she found a young boy trapped in a hovering cage, it's emerald green bars seemed to be sentient. Every time the boy grabbed one of them, the bar would form a snapping mouth and take a bite of his hand, refusing to let go until it had consumed a bit of raw chi from the terrified youngster.

Standing on a small rock was a man attired in purple and white robes, his hair represented by a thin pony tail, and in his hand was a flute, as he played it, the sentient bars became ever more lively and ravenous. The sides of the cage narrowed further and further, threatening to crush the boy.

"Say, you look pretty familiar..." Jade said, trying to pinpoint where she had seen this person before. Come to think of it, the boy had features that resembled ones she knew an age or so ago, back when she was a child. Spikey hair, devilish grin, widened eyes.

The man turned around, alert and ready to deal with the problem

"This does not concern you, this creature must be sealed away before he can wreck further havoc on the known world"

"Hello? He's just a kid" said Jade

"It is a form intended to deceive, and to weigh heavily on my soul for an act I know not in my heart to be shameful. He has the mind of a child, but the truth would stun most men"

"Well picking on a youngster isn't going to make a man out of you" said Jade

"If you have a quarrel with me, then I will respond to you with appropriate measures"

"Don't worry about me…I'm packing all kinds of appropriate"

The man leapt off of the rock and prepared to deliver a sharp and effective kick to Jade's temple, but she produced a small grey orb from her right pocket and pressed down on it, a shaping wall of blue and pink energy shaped in the form of a Jade dragon impacted the man, sending him flying high into the air. Jade heard a mighty crash as the distant figure crashed back first into a nearby mountain

With the man no longer present, the bars of the cage seized their approach on the child and ultimately vanished altogether, the child beamed with delight.

"_Chi_-erry Bombs. Like Cherries, but they pack more of a punch" Jade said

Jade walked over to the frightened child.

"Are you ok?" she said, "It's ok, he won't hurt you anymore"

"Thank you. That man…he belongs to a bunch of mortals who plan to expose the Dragon valleys to Lo Pei's rebellion, I was on my way to warn them when I was intercepted and almost banished"

Jade gulped. She could sense something had just happened that she'd probably end up regretting

The boy got up and dusted himself off, wings suddenly and swiftly burst out of his back

"Mind if I take you for a ride?" he said

"Hsi-Wu" said Jade, as she finally recognized where she had seen such "innocent" looks before, they were part of a scheme by the ancient sky demon back in her youth where he had tried to attain his tail by playing the strings of her heart as delicately as one would play a fiddle.

"That's the name, what happens to yours?" asked the Sky Demon.

"I'm Ja…" Jade began, but soon realized if she gave him her real name, he would remember and possibly tie all the pieces together and the paradoxes could become much worse

"Jedda. You can call me Jedda" she said.

"Well then Jedda, care to accompany me on the way to the valleys of my brother, the great Ryujin?"

Jade was taken aback "Ryujin? Isn't your brother…Shendu?"

"You know Little Shen?" Hsi-Wu said, bursting into laughter, "And here I thought his pitiful reputation was a shame only shared by his immediate family. Guess one of us bragged about his failings to the wrong people in the taverns"

"Are you going to tell me all the embarrassing stories about Shen on our way there? Cause that's the only way you'll keep me quiet the whole ride" said Jade

"Oh great, you're flirting with him" snapped the projection of Jackie as he witnessed the confounding spectacle

"Old habits of youth. I did have a massive crush on him you know"

"And asking for stories about Shendu…you are so quick to forget your mission, but don't worry, I'll have years remaining in my life to remind you to go after DaoLong, I'll make you write it down seven thousand times on a black board if I have to"

"Relax Jackie, I was making a priority out of an opportunity. An opportunity of a lifetime to undo all our present ills in one trip to the past, I wanted to get close enough to Shendu to possibly put an end to things before they began…give us all a bit of peace…fate had other intentions"


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

* * *

True to his word, Hsi-Wu took Jade to the dragon valleys where Ryujyn's tribe was situated. Touching down, Jade disembarked from the Sky Demon's back and looked around at what seemed like a surprisingly tranquil setting.

There were little infant humanoid-like Dragon infants innocently playing a game of catch with a soft round blue orb. A few playful youngsters could also be spotted leaping to the left and right over a lazy Dragon's tail, with the tail's tardy owner looking over his shoulder and watching the game in motion, smiling at the lively activity of the playful children.

Others were preparing meals for their families, although their choices in delicacy, live lamb and horse, was something Jade had to quickly avert her gaze from witnessing the consumption of.

It was not long before the tribes clan of warrior Dragons approached Hsi-Wu

"Hsi-Wu, we had heard one of the Mortal Wizards had you cornered, we were just about to send a party to search for you" said one of the warrior Dragon tribesmen.

"I was saved thanks to the timely intervention of this dazzling warrioress named Jedda" said Hsi-Wu, placing a hand on Jade's shoulder. Jade shivered, before modestly waving at the Tribesmen.

"She wrecks of weak and fleshly substance, she must be incinerated" uttered one of the Warrior Dragons

"No…her scent is…different somewhat. I sense powerful chi on her" another of the Dragons spoke in protest of the rash judgement.

"Yeah, that's called a fragrance Mister…you could do with that. AND a mint" Jade replied, repelled by the repugnant breath emitting from the Dragon's roasting nostrils.

"That pendant on your forehead…I have seen it on one other. That who currently serves the Wizard Mortals. Are you of his camp?" analysed the Dragon that had defended her

"Woah…you mean you know DaoLong? Seems we have a common enemy. How about we compare notes?" Jade asked.

The Warrior Dragons huddled together, forming a circle of talking heads. They debated the next outcome. Jade tried to overhear them, but her hearing could not pick up their words.

Finally, they all nodded in agreement, approached Jade, grabbed her by the arms and escorted her to a hut to the north of them. Hsi-Wu flew high above and followed them

"Where are you taking me?" she asked.

"To the ocean, to converse with Ryujin"

"What about the rodent that hovers s overhead?" asked one of the warriors, pointing above in acknowledgement of Hsi-Wu

Jade giggled.

"I also demand an audience with my Uncle. The Dragon Valleys are in danger of being compromised, he must be warned"

"Quiet, all of you" said the eldest of the tribesman. "And Shen, have greater respect for your brother"

"Shen" Jade said under her breath, realizing the Dragon that had come to her defence was none other than her future enemy across the ages, Shendu.

"Uncle…wait, isn't Hsi-Wu your brother? How are all of you demons related to each other anyway? Or is that too much heavy duty thought for Saturday morning?"

"The morning brings clarity, but then night falls and nothing is made clear" replied Shendu.

"So you're telling me you have no idea how you're related, you don't know your father at all do you? What about your mother?"

"Young lady, why are you asking Shendu about his family history?" asked Jackie, more perplexed than ever.

Jade's future projection looked sheepishly out into the distance, "I just felt compelled to alright? I'm trying to maintain composure here, get my bearings, I got an immediate sense of everything being more innocent than I'd thought, so I'd thought I'd make innocent conversation. Helped didn't it?"

"What it helps build towards I have great apprehension about" said Jackie.

Jade, Shendu, and Hsi-Wu were brought towards a remote beach, the Warrior Dragons approached the waves and bowed, humming a silent Chinese prayer in their native lounge.

The tide steadily rose and rose, like a great chariot, a perfect throne, and from this high platform a God would emerge. The great Dragon Ryujin came to the surface, a vast golden Dragon with thorny scales across the full length of his back, and a lavish mane of rich blonde hair flowing across his yellow and empowering eyes and scalp.

"I am summoned, who serves as my audience?"

"Great Ryujin, God of us all, he of your bloodline who rules the skies above approaches us with grim news that concerns the fate of the Dragon valleys"

"Hey, I was going to say that. Now I've got nothing" snapped Hsi-Wu

Shendu laughed, "And you dare to claim my dreams of a grander claim on all of Aisha shame our family, your temper and sense of entitlement is what will forever stub your journey from boy to beast"

"Oh, you didn't need your fire breath to give your brother a royal burn there" remarked Jade.

"Why thankyou"

"The Dragon Valleys are well protected" replied Ryujin, "So long as there is harmony within, we can never be without"

"What does that mean? Can't believe I'm in my twenties and I have to still get to grips with riddles" Jade said, folding her arms.

"I have trouble understanding his words, but I know them in my heart to be wise"

Ryujyn looked at Jade, examining the pendant on her head with precision.

"_You_ are within, and soon, _you_ will be without. For that I cannot offer you anything but a way past it all. Past this"

"What does that mean?"

Ryujyn soon vanished deep beneath the ocean, and the tides settled. Jade was left bamboozled.

"What now Immortal?" said Shendu, "You had to have come here for a reason other than sight-seeing. Regardless of what I think of my brother, I am grateful you took pity on him and held back the human filth

"Hey, a little less on the race card before you end up pulling a red one with me" snapped Jade, slapping the Dragon Warrior clean across his scaly features.

The Dragon rubbed his cheek delicately, smoke poured again from his nostrils. He laughed, as others did.

"There is fire within you as well it seems…come, we must drink tonight" Shendu replied

High above, Hsi-Wu scowled. This day had become less about him and more about what he had brought to the village. Envy seared through whatever black pit represented his soul.

"Oh, now you're going to share a pint or two with the enemy?!" said Jackie, again feeling another shock as he refused to let himself settle, "Jade, when did you become so…so…."

"I know, feed me the laundry list, 'reckless', 'an ill judge of character', 'less sharper than a pencil'" Jade responded.

"I was _goin_g to say 'social'"


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE**

* * *

The evening spent in the valleys went according to the precise plan Jade had been somewhat winging based on her wealth of experience in the field of covert deception.

She was a guest at the dinner table, a pale and enchanting moon illuminating the evening as the entertainment flooded in. Food, drink, and companionship.

It was so easy to get lost in the remarkable company of what she had grown to oppose for so long, anyone less focused on the mission at hand

"And then, the tortoise just got up and zipped far across the boat carrying me on its shell .Eventually we just left the cannibal on the boat surrounded by Shadow-Khan. And before that, my uncle the Jackinator proves once again he has the wits quick enough to outpace a member of the Dark Hand wielding the same power and send the mass of humanity crashing into their ship and sent it to the depths of the waters below"

There was an uproar of laughter from the table as the Warrior Dragons

"Unbelievable, you weave such great threads Jeddah, a supreme storyteller" complimented Shendu

"You know the game….take a shot every time I mention anything to do with how many times the Dark Hand slip their grasp on anything" said Jade in jest. Shendu agreed and dunked another keg of beer into his mouth.

"This Dark Hand, they sound like a legend in their own lifetime, if they were ever truly in my service, I would feel honoured to share in their misadventures and suffer their presence for the sake of personal amusement"

Later, when a heavy intake of drink had served to subdue just about everyone, Jade took Shendu on a stroll along the beach, Jade kicked away at the tides as they drifted in and out, occasionally even throwing some of the water Shendu's way

"So all of your brothers and sisters rule over various territories, but you're content to remain a valley boy….you're not even the size of your typical Dragon overlords"

"Oh, I'd love to walk a mile in a giant's shoes" said Shendu, "To be on par with our great God Ryujyn would be an achievement, but it would require years, perhaps a century or so, to master enough chi, from the light and dark corners, to amass such height, such power, and such responsibility"

"Is that why you want to conquer Aisha?" said Jade

"Conquer is too harsh a word Jeddah...it is one of the last free domains, but I do not wish to rule it with an aggressive hand"

"Got a little confession…I kind of come from Aisha, my parents do anyway. A lot of parents are there. A lot of children. All with parents."

She tightened her right hand into a fist.

"And that's why this_ has_ to be done."

She decked Shendu with the swiftest blow she could muster, a chi-erry bomb clenched within, the combination of raw physicality and the energy bomb going off in the space between her fingers propelled Shendu five feet off the floor and into the ocean. Jade dived in after him, managing to catch him as he surfaced. She grabbed his head as it came above water and pushed it back down into the drenched sand, holding it there for as long as possible, hoping, praying, that the fire that raged within and without would be extinguished long before it had the chance to ignite it's flames upon the known world.

"Jade, you were playing possum this whole time?" Jackie said, fascinated and a bit discomforted by the reigning down of blow upon blow to the young Dragon's features.

"I shouldn't have done it. It was the catalyst for everything afterwards that I'm certain of. I was determined to show him, in those moments of reality shaped by my experiences with him, all of my personal qualities that can only blossom on a battlefield. The only quality I didn't want rising to the surface before he did was unfortunately the one I couldn't subdue"

Jade froze in the midst of another raw, aggressive and nakedly violent blow, and looked upon her distorted reflection in the centre of the still waters.

"The quality of mercy"

Jade looked at the mangled face of Shendu, continued to stare at her own distorted reflection in the waters, and realized just how far she'd gone.

Jade pulled Shendu out of the water and gently stroked his face. Small tears came down her face

"This…all of this…what made you the monster I know, _hasn't happened yet_ has it? You can't possibly understand…" Jade uttered, the small droplets from her tender features raining delicately on the young Dragon's skin and chest. Shendu steadily slipped back into consciousness, and the first thing he saw was Jade's anguish.

"So much pain in your eyes…a need to resolve, to avenge, surely Aisha remains untouched, why do you fear I will be a burden to it?"

"You become something…I know it, I've seen it"

Shendu clasped her hand.

"I believe that any one true dawn can be tailored into a false one, and like a stone, it can dart across the water, skim towards the horizon and out of view, and you know what I see? Beyond the horizon? What is more consistent, what rises more than even the great Dragon God himself? "

He pointed to the sun as it began to rise

"That which burns _brightest_. That is what I want to be. How can anything that brings light to the world become anything like a monster?"

Jackie sensed a seismic shift in the status quoe about to occur in what he was witnessing. He looked back at the projection of his niece, who whistled ever so slightly

"You don't have to look if you don't want to" she said.

"What do you mean don't loo…" Jackie said, steadily turning his gaze only to find the two locked in an all too eerie embrace.

"What brought THAT on? Are you out of your mind?!"

"I'm hundreds of years in the past, can't trace my quarry, ended up sparing someone who tries to make out with me to achieve his own ends in the future, _and _I'm feeling kind of lonely, and I just got fed the corniest romantic hard sell ever"

"I don't know whether or not this whole thing is just you trying to sell me a hockey amount of wish fulfilment fiction or not, but all means, continue to entertain me" Jackie remarked.

"We don't have much long left in the tale. This day is where it _starts_; next I'll show you where it begins to fall apart"

"Don't you need a fast forward for that?" asked Jackie

"Yeah, I kind of wasn't honest earlier…"

"Jade, part of conveying any proper story to the public is not to exaggerate or falsify facts"

"Yeah, I know, I make a lousy reporter. There's a reason I didn't bother much with the profession after that week. You saw to that"

"How did I see to that?"

"You'll know when you wake up"


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER SIX**

* * *

The winds of temporal change swayed Jackie to the left and right once again. He again couldn't properly adjust and received some mild shocks as he stirred ever so slightly from his rest.

Observing him in his present were young Jade and Paco, who were checking his pulse on his arms

"How is he?" asked El Toro

"His pulse is jumping higher than a vanilla midget" said Jade.

"Jade, mind your place, our crop of talent deserve more respect than that" said Paco

Jade looked at him sheepishly, "Gee Paco, I'm sorry, guess I'm letting Jackie's condition really dictate my moods. Same gesture to you El Toro"

"Think nothing of it. I am honored you are actually well versed in professional wrestling terminology…even if it comes from the negative corners of our business" complimented El Toro

"All the flashy moves you guys do, all the flashy moves Jackie does, and it doesn't seem to be helping him combat this experience at all…I hope his inner spirits are taking his inner demons to task" Jade remarked

Within the mists of time, Jackie's journey subsided and he found himself back at the beach on the outskirts of the main village in the Dragon Valleys. A tall cylinder-shaped hut now stood overlooking the warf where he had last seen Shendu and Jade make out.

He could spot Shendu a few meters away from the hut sun-bathing, soaking up the energies of the friendly solar giant he likened himself to. From out of the hut emerged Jade, dressed in a purple and black velvet dress, barefoot, cradling in her arms a small infant Dragon being.

"Your son" Jackie observed

"Let priorities slip from your mind in the midst of a romance and what you get out of those months is that" Jade admitted.

"How could you allow it to go this far?" Jackie asked, scratching his head in befuddlement

"War teaches us all the wrong things…it doesn't teach you to listen, only to act on instinct. I was lucky enough to have you holding my hand whenever I dived into battle, but here, I was on my own, with a lifetime of choices that never exposed my heart fully to the sensations I was indulging in now. In those eleven months I questioned everything, I even wondered if I would ever truly want to come home…I wanted to stay with my inner and outer Demons. I was angry initially with myself, then with you for teaching me to see so many positives in life, then I forgave. Starting with you, and then…I forgave him. I forgave Shendu. For all he had yet to do wrong. And I let him take me as his rightful prize"

"There was always a dark ember of your soul in there Jade, we saw it awakened when you became Queen of the Shadow-Khan" Jackie commented.

Jackie and Jade observed the two lovers as they again demonstrated the strength of their bond with another expression of love as their lips came together. The baby Dragon began to cry

Jade shushed him, rocking him gently; Shendu got up and gave the child a tickle on the tummy, and gave him a puff of smoke from his nostrils that the baby inhaled through his own. It seemed to sooth him.

"Little Drago shouldn't grow to be an avid smoker" Jade said as she stroked the scales on the back of her child's head

As soon as the name was dropped, Jackie shook his head

"…Oh Jade"

"My fire ignites his own. In that sense our bond will never break."

"Yeah, well, you can bring light to the tyke's life for a few more minutes, I need to set a reminder for myself"

Jade handed Drago over to Shendu and went back into the hut, sat down, and pulled out a small object from a drawer that Jackie recognized as the Orchant

"That's the weird mirror thingy that took me on this time travail in the first place" Jackie said

"Yep. We developed it ourselves back when we had Shendu in custody" Jade

"Oh really? He didn't just create it out of the kindness of his heart?" Jackie remarked sarcastically.

Jade looked at him tensely. Jackie's face continued to sink into itself. He placed a palm to his features and breathed deep.

"He did _didn't _he? At some point, he correctly deduced you would go back in time and become his bride"

"Maybe…I don't know, he may have always known. We shared more than our bodies and minds with one another, we shared our Chi. He could have easily picked up on my scent when we first met from my side of things…but whatever, it's time travel right? It's a chore"

The two watched as the Jade of this timeline looked into the mirror and began to make an entry

"Jackie…if you…" she began, but she put the mirror down.

"No" she said, "No, I've got to make sure the right person hears this so things need not get too out of hand, or too into the Dark Hand" she said

She picked the mirror up and resumed.

"Shendu…if you're watching this…" she said, when suddenly the sound of a tense struggle alerted her to something going on outside.

She darted out of the hut to find Shendu shackled in chains of warm golden radiant energy. Drago was now in the arms of a figure she had not seen in almost a year, a figure she had let slip from her mind like so many priorities in the desire for some personal time, personal release, from her burdens.

"I trust the irony of sharing fire in an area surrounded by water has not been lost on you" the impish figure spoke.

"DaoLong Wong!" Jade replied in alarm


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

* * *

"How did you _find_ us?" said Jade, "I helped the tribe's leaders set up a Chi-ring around the valley _months _back. Nobody, not even that wizard that attacked Hsi-Wu, could pierce it without turning into a withered old mummy"

"All the more reason to prepare each of them with a slice of immortality" DaoLong revealed, pointing to the pendants on his and Jade's foreheads.

"There were ten of them in total…and now eight of them belong to a fine selection of Wizards that I took the time to visit. Each of them have been trying to overthrow the demon overlords for a number of years, now they may have a number of lifetimes to achieve what they must without fear of expiration"

"The Eight Immortals…" Jade realized, "You were responsible for their creation. You. This whole time"

"I am bonded to them through the symbiosis made possible by the latent telepathic capabilities generated from the Pendants. They can detect where I am, just as I can detect where YOU are"

"Me?" Jade said.

DaoLong pointed to her own pendant.

"The pendants were laced with a powerful symbiotic Chi tether. It links each Immortal who bears it on their shoulder"

"I lured you right to the Valley" Jade realized.

"Correct Lady Dragon" revealed a cackling DaoLong

"YOU" Shendu snapped, "All this time, you were a wolf in our fold…you rescued Hsi-Wu with the express intent of gaining our trust, gaining MY trust, so you could subject us to the wrath of those...those animals"

"That's right young dragon. It's the Oroborus stratagem. The ultimate blessing, and the ultimate revenge, HE always knew you were fated to be his, to give him his son, and we made arrangements to ensure history remained on an exact path"

"Riddles…riddles, lies, deception, can I bear any more this day?" Shendu said in despair.

"Oh I think you will find what you hear next quite unbearable, but it will serve to burden you in your long life yet to come"

The cries of his family, his brothers, his sisters, his cousins, all those inhabiting the Dragon Valley's villages, suddenly rang out across the heavens.

A shimmering ignition of energy washed over the cliffs surrounding the beach, and everything swiftly fell silent.

"What have you done?" cried Shendu.

"Lu Dongbin has just sealed your entire village within the Demon netherworld" said DaoLong, "Be well prepared to remember that name in years to come"

Jade had heard enough.

"Give me back my son" she said, "Let Shendu go"

"Oh I intend to, time will resume on its correct course, but your journey? Your journey ends, and there is no turning back. For either of us" DaoLong hissed, pressing a switch on the head of the serpent cane.

"What did you do?" said Jade.

"I just trigged a compact explosive I hid within the cave we travelled to this time in, as I said, our journey ends, as now does your life" DaoLong hissed, and aimed his serpent energy cane at the young woman.

Blasts shot through the gaping jaw of the cane's emerald serpent head, leaving traces of hissing acid as the blasts danced across the sand.

Jade leapt over each blast. DaoLong gently placed the infant Dragon on the course dunes, his staff slowly shaped into a jagged sword, and he charged after Jade.

He hoisted the blade high in the air with both hands and leaned forward, Jade caught the blade with her hands, making sure to avoid the daggers embedded on either side of the weapon, she slipped the sword from DaoLong's hand and elbowed him in the stomach. DaoLong managed to score a modest kick to Jade's gut, and took the sword off of her, he used it to pry the immortality pendant off of her forehead . Jade clawed him across the face with her nails, fetched two chi-erry bombs from her dress, and smashed both of her hands across DaoLong's face, causing it to shake and distort in a variety of absurd cartoonish expressions.

So long as he wore his own pendant, however, he remained un-phased by a blow that would fell any normal man.

DaoLong dropped to his knees, Jade closed in, but he was quick to grab her legs and throw her to the ground. He climbed over her body, grabbed her by the hair and used a long fingernail to mark his initials on her neck before licking a part of the trickling blood with his lounge, he then pushed her face down into the sands, attempting to suffocate her.

Shackled and helpless, Shendu could be heard praying.

Jade raised her right leg and caught DaoLong in the face with it, she emerged from her would-be sand coffin and pounded DaoLong in his disfigured looks with a right and left clubbing from her fists. The battle had taken on a far less majestic form of combat. This was sheer naked emotional aggression; all real finesse was lost on the pair at this point.

Finally, Jade ripped the pendant off of DaoLong.

DaoLong was quick to recover and threw Jade off of him with his legs, he waited for her to get her bearings before laying out with a spear to the gut. He dashed over to Shendu and freed him from his shackles using an incantation given to him by Shendu

"Be sure to remember that" said the projection of Jade to Jackie

"Uh huh" Jackie said, paying attention, but far too drawn in to properly respond.

"Why do you liberate me?" he said

"Dispose of her, she is your enemy, she has led your loved ones to exile and ruin" said a desperate DaoLong, picking Drago up with his hands, "Do so, or I will see to it you will spend a lifetime despising your son"

Shendu approached Jade, pillars of smoke emerging from his breath.

"Shendu…no…please…" she said, "Don't become what I know you to be"

"What I will become, I leave to my son" he said. Looking on at the infant Drago

DaoLong looked at him, the innocent eyes widened, becoming blood red, the infant opened his mouth and a great pillar of fire engulfed and incinerated DaoLong.

As Drago crawled over to his parents, Shendu caught him and approached Jade.

"Share in this moment with me. It will be our last together, and just so you know, as adrift in the mind as he is now, before his capacity for learning grows, there will always be a part of Drago that will remember this day, and he will spend an age hating you for what you have done"

"Shendu…please, you have to hear me out, what DaoLong said, he…"

"Enough has been said. I must journey far from here. To train. To align myself with my siblings. Study the art of Dark Chi magic, I must GROW Jedda, if that is your name, and I must be true to my path, and not lead a false one. With you."

"But I told you what I've seen…you become a monster"

"Perhaps a monster is what Aisha deserves" said Shendu, the tone of his voice conveying an innocent soul shattered, hurt and shaken, and someone whose purpose was now far too altogether clear.

Shendu looked out at the sun burning bright above him, he cradled Drago close to him, and, with one last longing look at Jade, he walked away


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

* * *

Jade stood as still as a statue as she let the waves wash over her bare feet.

She was alone now.

Alone with her thoughts and feelings. Of loss, regret, and abandonment.

She figured it was the easiest possible means of slipping back into her old ways. Find her way back home somehow. Continue the good fight. Whoop Demon tail.

But she didn't quite _want _to rush back into it.

She had involved herself far too much. Such is the price you pay when you blossom on a battlefield at such a young age. You never have the chance to grow in the regular way.

The way of all warriors leads to nothing but damage, missed opportunities, and the neglect of the little things that make all the true details of life flourish.

The regularities.

The waters rose high above her, and the great Dragon God Ryujin came before her.

"I guess this is the part where you give me a royal burn" she said, holding back her tears.

"We are within _and_ without" Ryujin said, "You have seen to that…but you could have been _without_ harmony many months ago had you given in to you have seen in your own time, but instead chose the finer qualities in your life, to see in light and love, you did not choose to be without. And for that, you are forgiven"

"But I led your race to ruin, Shendu is going to ultimately become the corrupt and repugnant conqueror that is greatly feared"

"So feared that it inspires courage in the souls of humankind, and forges a great legacy. The Age of Demons, like all dynasties, will have its time, and then it will end, and another, more durable age will begin, until their time too, is ended. This I cannot permit, for it is the will of the Gods I am a part of, the web I must help to preserve, as much as it breaks my own heart"

"Wait…if the Immortals banished all of the Dragon Valleys…why didn't you get caught?"

"Come beneath and I will show you" he said, returning to the depths of the water. On instinct, Jade followed him, diving beneath the waves and following the Dragon God's trail. She thought and hummed an incantation that allowed her to maintain her oxygen levels underwater.

She slowly made her way to a vast and lush underwater palace. Which belonged to Ryujin. The domes of the citadels opened, allowing her and the God to enter. Once inside, Ryujin shrank down in size to a more manageable humanoid level and approached Jade

"You are of another time, rest within this city for a spell, and you will be returned to your own, step out when you feel enough of time has elapsed"

"Of course, now you're ringing a bell with me, in the Pali Cannon text, it is said that a day for a deity is a hundred years to the rest of us" Jade replied. Ryujin nodded

"You are wise, and that wisdom will carry forward, in Shendu's own way, the time you spent will never be truly forgotten"

"I must make a note of this with the Orchant…do you mind?" said Jade, producing the small pocket mirror device.

"Let it be what lights your candle before your rest. When you depart, keep me in your thoughts, for I will remember you and DaoLong, immortals forgotten by history, understood and acknowledged by above, like many other things"

"So how sleepless were your nights?" said Jackie as he watched Jade chronicle her story to him.

"Oh you know what I'm like without caffeine, a little more composed and organized, it didn't take me long to finish this and take a nap. I'm pretty sure when I get back that you'll be free from DaoLong's shackles and ready to give me a long overdue hug. Just remember that incantation DaoLong chanted that freed Shendu from similar bonds"

"So that's it? The end of your story? I can wake up now and possibly tell your even more adolescent self all of the crazy, selfish and arrogant decisions you've made on this trip to the past and prevent this whole Demon business from even coming to pass?"

"Jackie, please, Drago may be the enemy, but he's my _son, _you can't unmake him_"_

"Then why did you show me all of this?"

"In some way, sending DaoLong on this mission, to preserve the threads of time as they were, in effect extending the desires of Ryujyn, even if that part was unintentional, was Shendu's way of letting me know he still loves and values me" said Jade, "And that's what I need Drago to know Jackie. If there's one thing I want, it's for him to be with his father, no matter what he may think of him, however dysfunctional they happen to be, family needs to be all they will have in the end. Find a way to make it work Jackie, _please_?"

"I will find a way. I promise" Jackie said

"Good…I gotta go to sleep now. Got a lot to do in a hundred years…might finally dance with Paco, might let him cash in a few of his chips too"

"Jade…don't we be so quick to move on. You just lost your family. As your uncle I am urging you on this: No rebounds"

"Don't worry about me Jackie, I'll find a way back to my family, I can assure of that" said Jade

"What…no, you can't just bring them back" said Jackie

"Guess you'll just have to stop me in the future then, I'm sure it'll be a SNAP" said Jade, clicking her fingers.

Jackie's eyes snapped open, he found himself on the floor of the wrestling stadium, surrounded by El Toro, Paco, and Jade.

"Jackie, you're back" Jade said in elation, giving her Uncle a hug, "That looked like it was a real shock to the system"

"Did you learn anything from that experience?" said El Toro

"Plenty" said Jackie, looking at the Orchant

"_Jade must have left the city twice"_ he thought, _"Once to plant the Orchant where it needed to be found, the next to return to her present"_

He dropped the mirror to the floor and took a bold step forward, crushing it

"Hey, that's seven years worth of bad vibes coming your way" remarked Jade.

"I count a lot more than that Jade"

"Hey, at least you're back in one piece. If something happened to any one of my family, I'd spend most of my days trying to piece the jigsaw back together"

"Yes, about that Jade" Jackie began, before catching himself. He stroked his chin, thinking of what to say next. At first, he was lost for words, but then soon found the right things to say

"Never let go of the opportunities you have" he said, "Family is important, but living life to the full is also a privilege, do not obsess, be harmonious within, even when you are without"

"I'm not going to get this 'till I'm older am I?" Jade asked

"Precisely" Jackie said, "But rest assured, I'll be there to hold your hand when that day comes"

As the four of them departed, Jade took one last gander at the shattered Orchant

"But what about my breaking news story?"

"Jade…in life, there are some stories where all that breaks is your heart" Jackie replied

**THE END**


End file.
